Ben Simmons Achilles Injury Ends Kings Comeback

The Ben Simmons Achilles injury just ended one of the most hyped comeback stories in the NBA before the regular season even tipped off. The Sacramento Kings guard tore his right Achilles tendon in a live drill at practice on Sunday, and he is expected to miss the entire season.

What happened on Sunday

According to NBC Sports, the Kings announced that Simmons tore the tendon and will soon have surgery to repair it. No official timetable was given, but the outlet says he will undoubtedly miss the whole twenty twenty-six to twenty twenty-seven campaign.

The team said the injury came during a live drill, and an MRI confirmed the tear. The news landed just three days before Sacramento opens its season on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night, as the Associated Press reported.

ESPN's Shams Charania was first to break the story. Within hours, the Kings had confirmed it in a press release, and Simmons posted his own message on Instagram.

Why this one hurts so much

Simmons did not play at all last season. He spent that time away from the league, working on his body after years of back problems and two separate surgeries, and on his mental health too. The Ben Simmons Achilles injury now cuts short the payoff of that whole reset.

The comeback was actually working. According to Hoops Rumors, he showed an aggressiveness in preseason that fans had not seen since the early days of his career. He averaged ten and a half points, four rebounds and four assists in about seventeen minutes per game.

He had signed a one-year deal worth three and a half million dollars on September fourth, after passing the Kings' medical checks. NBC Sports says he was expected to start for Sacramento. Instead, it calls the timing a fluke injury and a devastating blow.

A career full of setbacks

Simmons was the first overall pick in the twenty sixteen draft by Philadelphia. He missed his first season with a foot injury, then won Rookie of the Year in twenty seventeen to twenty eighteen and made three All-Star teams with the 76ers, according to GMA News Online.

After a messy exit from Philadelphia, he was traded to Brooklyn, where back trouble kept him sidelined for a long stretch. His last NBA action came in the twenty twenty-four to twenty twenty-five season, when he appeared in fifty-one games for the Nets and the Clippers, per CBS Sports.

The Guardian describes five years of significant injuries and mental health struggles. That context is why so many fans, including plenty of Gen Z viewers who grew up watching him, were rooting for this return.

The Associated Press, via AP News, framed it bluntly: his comeback attempt with Sacramento ended before the season even started. That is a brutal sentence for any athlete, and especially for one who spent twelve months trying to prove his body and mind were ready.

Reports out of Sacramento had been overwhelmingly positive all fall. Teammates and staff liked what they saw, and the Kings were counting on his passing and size to create easy looks for Domantas Sabonis and the rest of the offense.

What it means for the Kings and for Simmons

The Kings now have to rebuild their rotation on the fly. Coach Doug Christie is scrambling, and the team is also thin up front, since centers Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell are dealing with their own smaller injuries, according to NBC Sports.

The injury also hits beyond the NBA. The Los Angeles Times reports that recovery from a torn Achilles typically takes six to twelve months. It also puts in doubt his hopes of playing for Australia at the twenty twenty-seven FIBA World Cup and the twenty twenty-eight Olympics.

In his Instagram statement, Simmons said this setback is another chapter and not the end of his story. He wrote that adversity does not define a person, and that how they respond does. He added that he has been knocked down before and found a way back up.

For now, the road back starts with surgery and a long rehab. Fans will be watching to see whether the Ben Simmons Achilles injury becomes the final chapter or just one more hurdle. More on the sports world is on our sports page.